The Active Learning Trust

THE ACTIVE LEARNING TRUST

[NAME OF ACADEMY]

SCHEME OF DELEGATION

EFFECTIVE DATE [ ]

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1As a charity and company limited by guarantee, The Active Learning Trust (the “Company”) is governed by a Board of Directors (the “Directors”) who are responsible for, and oversee, the management and administration of the Company and the Academies run by the Company. [NAME OF THE ACADEMY] (The “Academy”) is one of the academies.

1.2The Directors are accountable to external government agencies including the Charity Commission and the Department for Education/Education Funding Agency (including any successor bodies) for the quality of the education they provide and they are required to have systems in place through which they can assure themselves of quality, safety and good practice. In order to discharge these responsibilities, the Directors appoint people who have a more local focus to serve on a board (the Local Governing Body) which has been established to ensure the good governance of the Academy.

1.3This Scheme of Delegation explains the ways in which the Directors fulfil their responsibilities for the leadership and management of the Academy, the respective roles and responsibilities of the Directors and the members of the Local Governing Body and the commitments to each other to ensure the success of the Academy.

1.4This Scheme of Delegation has been put in place by the Directors from the Effective Date in accordance with the provisions of the Company’s Articles of Association (the “Articles”) and it should be read in conjunction with those Articles. References in this Scheme to numbered Articles are to the relevant clause of the Articles.

1. ETHOS AND MISSION STATEMENT

2.1The Academy’s mission is as follows:

[INSERT MISSION STATEMENT]

2.2The academy is committed to working with and, where appropriate, to support other academies in the Active Learning Trust and will therefore play a full part on whole Trust and academy to academy activities.

1. DIRECTORS POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

3.1The Directors have overall responsibility and ultimate decision making authority for all the work of the Company, including the establishing and running of schools and in particular the Academy. This is largely exercised through strategic planning and the setting of policy. It is managed through business planning, monitoring of budgets, performance management, the setting of standards and the implementation of quality management processes. The Directors have the power to direct change where required.

3.2The Directors have a duty to act in the fulfilment of the Company’s objectives.

3.3Directors will have regard to the interests of the other academies for which the Company is responsible in deciding and implementing any policy or exercising any authority in respect of the Academy.

3.4Article 100 provides for the appointment by the Directors of committees to whom the Directors may delegate certain functions of the Directors. In further recognition of the Directors’ power to delegate under Articles 105 and 106, responsibility for the running of the Academy from the Effective Date will be delegated to the committee established by this Scheme of Delegation and which shall be known as the Local Governing Body of the Academy.

3.5The constitution, membership and proceedings of the Local Governing Body is determined by the Directors and this Scheme of Delegation expresses such matters as well as acknowledges the authority delegated to the Local Governing Body in order to enable the Local Governing Body to run the Academy and fulfil the Academy’s mission.

1. CONSTITUTION OF THE LOCAL GOVERNING BODY

4.1Member of the Local Governing Body

4.1.1The number of people who shall sit on the Local Governing Body shall generally be limited to a maximum of 10.

4.1.2The Local Governing Body shall have the following members:

4.1.2.1The Chair shall be appointed by the Directors but that they shall appoint as Chair someone other than the Chief Executive Officer;

4.1.2.2Up to 5 members (the “Trust governors”) including the Chair (as above) and the Principal/Headteacher of the Academy who will act as the CEO’s representative at the board as a Trust governor, or such number so that all times the number of Trust governors shall exceed the number of other members serving on the Local Governing Body by at least 1;

4.1.2.32 staff members appointed, one of whom will represent the teaching staff and one who shall represent the support staff at the school;

4.1.2.42 parent members to be elected or appointed;

4.1.2.5any additional members, if appointed by the Directors at the request of the Secretary of State of Education (the “Secretary of State”) pursuant to clause 102c) of the Master Funding Agreement entered into between the Company and the Secretary of State governing the affairs of the Company;

4.1.3 The Directors (all or any of them) shall also be entitled to serve on the Local Governing Body and attend any meetings of the Local Governing Body. Any Director attending a meeting of the Local Governing Body shall count towards the quorum for the purposes of the meeting and shall be entitled to vote on any resolution being considered by the Local Governing Body.

4.2Appointment of members of the Local Governing Body

4.2.1In addition to the Principal/Headteacher, Trust governors shall be appointed by the Directors and shall be representatives of the local community and/or, in the view of the Directors, shall be such persons who can add value to the work of the Local Governing Body.

4.2.2Unless the Directors agree otherwise, in appointing persons to serve on the Local Governing Body who are employed at the Academy the Local Governing Body shall invite nominations from all staff employed under a contract of employment or a contract for services or otherwise engaged to provide services to the Academy (excluding the Principal) and, where there are any contested posts, shall hold an election by a secret ballot. All arrangements for the calling and the conduct of the election and resolution of questions as to whether any person is an eligible candidate shall be determined by the Local Governing Body.

4.2.3The parent members of the Local Governing Body shall be elected by parents of registered pupils at the Academy and he or she must be a parent of a pupil at the Academy at the time when he or she is elected.

4.2.4The Local Governing Body shall make all necessary arrangements for, and determine all other matters relating to, an election of the parent members of the Local Governing Body, including any question of whether a person is a parent of a registered pupil at the Academy. Any election of persons who are to be the parent members of the Local Governing Body which is contested shall be held by secret ballot.

4.2.5The arrangements made for the election of the parent members of the Local Governing Body shall provide for every person who is entitled to vote in the election to have an opportunity to do so by post or, if (s)he prefers, by having her/his ballot paper returned to the Academy by a registered pupil at the Academy.

4.2.6Where a vacancy is required to be filled by election, the Local Governing Body shall take such steps as are reasonably practical to secure that every person who is known to them to be a parent of a registered pupil at the Academy is informed of the vacancy and that it is required to be filled by election, informed that (s)he is entitled to stand as a candidate, and vote at the election, and given an opportunity to do so.

4.3Term of office

4.3.1The term of office for any person serving on the Local Governing Body shall be as follows:

4.3.2Parent and staff governors elected under the provisions set out above 3 years

4.3.3Governors appointed by the Trust will serve for 4 years

4.3.4Subject to remaining eligible to be a particular type of member on the Local Governing Body, any person must be re-appointed or re-elected (including being “co-opted” again) to the Local Governing Body.

4.4Resignation and removal

4.4.1A person serving on the Local Governing Body shall cease to hold office if (s)he resigns her/his office by notice to the Local Governing Body (but only if three persons will remain in office when the notice of resignation is to take effect).

4.4.2A person serving on the Local Governing Body shall cease to hold office if (s)he is removed by the person or persons who appointed her/him. Whilst at the same time as acknowledging that no reasons need to be given for the removal of a person who serves on the Local Governing Body by a person or persons who appointed him, any failure to uphold the values of the Company and/or the Academy or to act in a way which is appropriate in light in this Scheme of Delegation will be taken into account. A person may also be removed by the Directors but only after the Directors have given due regard to any representations by the Local Governing Body. This clause does not apply in respect of a person who is serving as a parent member on the Local Governing Body.

4.4.3If any person who serves on the Local Governing Body in her/his capacity as an employee at the Academy ceases to work at the Academy then (s)he will have deemed to have resigned and shall cease to serve on the Local Governing Body automatically on termination of her/his work at the Academy.

4.4.4Where a person who serves on the Local Governing Body resigns her/his office or is removed from office, that person or, where (s)he is removed from office, those removing her/him, shall give written notice thereof to the Local Governing Body who shall inform the Directors.

4.5Disqualification of members of the Local Governing Body

4.5.1No person shall be qualified to serve on the Local Governing Body unless (s)he is aged 18 or over at the date of her/his appointment. No current pupil of the Academy shall be entitled to serve on the Local Governing Body.

4.5.2A person serving on the Local Governing Body shall cease to hold office if (s)he becomes incapable by reason of illness or injury of managing or administering her/his own affairs.

4.5.3A person serving on the Local Governing Body shall cease to hold office if (s)he is absent without the permission of the Chair of the Local Governing Body from all the meetings of the Local Governing Body held within a period of six months and the Local Governing Body resolves that her/his office be vacated.

4.5.4A person shall be disqualified from serving on the Local Governing Body if:

4.5.4.1Her/his estate has been sequestrated and the sequestration has not been discharged, annulled or reduced; or

4.5.4.2S(he) is the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order or an interim order

4.5.5A person shall be disqualified from serving on the Local Governing Body at any time when (s)he is subject to a disqualification order or a disqualification undertaking under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 or to an order made under section 429(2)(b) of the Insolvency Act 1986 (failure to pay under county court administration order).

4.5.6A person serving on the Local Governing Body shall cease to hold office if s(he) would cease to be a director by virtue of any provision in the Companies Act 2006 or is disqualified from acting as a trustee by virtue of section 72 of the Charities Act 1993 (or any statutory re-enactment or modification of that provision).

4.5.7A person shall be disqualified from serving on the Local Governing Body if s(he) has been removed from the office of any charity trustee or trustee of a charity by an order made by the Charity Commission or the High Court on the grounds of any misconduct or mismanagement in the administration of the charity for which s(he) was responsible or to which s(he) was privy, or which (s)he by her/his conduct contributed to or facilitated.

4.5.8A person shall be disqualified from serving on the Local Governing Body at any time when (s)he is:

4.5.8.1Included in the list kept by the Secretary of State under section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1999; or

4.5.8.2Disqualified from working with children in accordance with section 35 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000; or

4.5.8.3Barred from regulated activity relating to children (within the meaning of section 3(2) of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006).

4.5.9A person shall be disqualified from serving on the Local Governing Body if (s)he is a person in respect of whom a direction has been made under section 142 of the Education Act 2002 or is subject to any prohibition or restriction which takes effect as if contained in such a direction.

4.5.10A person shall be disqualified from serving on the Local Governing Body where s(he) has , at any time, been convicted of any criminal offence, excluding any that may have been spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 as amended, and excluding any offence for which the maximum sentence is a fine or a lesser sentence except where a person has been convicted of any offence which falls under section 72 of the Charities Act 1993.

4.5.11After the Academy has opened, a person shall be disqualified from serving on the Local Governing Body if (s)he has not provided to the chair of the Local Governing Body a criminal records certificate at an enhanced disclosure level under section 113B of the Police Act 1997. In the event that the certificate discloses any information which would in the opinion of either the Chair or the Principal confirm their unsuitability to work with children that person shall be disqualified, a referral shall be made to the Secretary of State to determine the matter. The determination of the Secretary of State shall be final.

4.5.12Where, by virtue of this Scheme of Delegation, a person becomes disqualified from serving on the Local Governing Body and (s)he was, or was proposed , to so serve, (s)he shall upon becoming disqualified give written notice of that fact to the Local Governing Body who shall inform the Directors.

4.5.13This clause 4.5 and paragraph 2 of the Appendix shall also apply to any memberof any committee of the Local Governing Body who is not a member of the Local Governing Body.

5DELEGATED POWERS

5.1 General Provisions

5.1.1Subject to provisions of the Companies Act 2006, the Articles and to any directions given by the Members of the Company following a special resolution, the management of the business of the Academy shall be delegated by the Directors to the Local Governing Body who may exercise all the powers of the Company in so far as they relate to the Academy, in accordance with the terms of this Scheme of Delegation. No alteration of the Articles and no such direction shall invalidate any prior act of the Local Governing Body which would have been valid if that alteration had not been made or that direction had not been given. Except as provided for in this Scheme of Delegation, the powers given by this Scheme of Delegation shall not be limited by any special power given to the Directors by the Articles or to the Local Governing Body by this Scheme of Delegation and a meeting of the Local Governing Body at which a quorum is present may exercise all the powers so delegated.

5.1.2In general terms, the responsibility of the Directors in so far as the business of the Academy is concerned is to determine the policy and procedures of the Academy and to consider and respond to strategic issues. Whilst the Directors are free to decide what constitutes a strategic issue, having regard to all the circumstances, unless a matter is identified as a strategic issue and/or is identified as being the responsibility of the Directors under this Scheme of Delegation, the responsibility for such matters will be that of the Local Governing Body.

5.1.3Except as provided fir in this Scheme of Delegation, in addition to all powers hereby expressly conferred upon the Local Governing Body and without detracting from the generality of the powers delegated, the Local Governing Body shall have the following powers, namely:

5.1.3.1to expend certain funds of the Company as permitted by clause 5.3 in such manner as the Local Governing Body shall consider the most beneficial for the achievement of the Object in so far as it relates to the Academy and

5.1.3.2to enter into contracts on behalf of the Company in so far as the relate to the Academy and within the parameters set by the Company.

5.1.4In the exercise of its powers and functions, the Local Governing Body must consider any advice given by the Principal, any other executive officer of the of the Company as well as the Directors and guidance and instruction a specified in Trust policies and other documents (including the Trust’s Financial Controls Manual).

5.1.5Any bank account in which any money of the Company in so far as it relates to the Academy is deposited shall be operated by the Local Governing Body in the name of the Company. All cheques and orders for the payment of money from such an account shall be signed by at least two signatories who are ALT employees authorised by the Directors. On-line banking facilities will be subject to the approval of the Directors.

5.2Ethos and Values

5.2.1Whilst the Local Governing Body shall be responsible for ensuring that the Academy is conducted in accordance with its ethos and values referred to in clause 2, the determination of the Academy’s ethos and mission statement shall be the responsibility of the Directors.

5.2.2At all times, the Directors and the Local Governing Body shall ensure that the Academy is conducted in accordance with the object of the Company and any agreement entered into with the Secretary of State for the funding of the Academy.

5.3Curriculum and Standards

5.3.1The Local Governing Body shall be responsible for the standards achieved by the Academy and the pupils attending the Academy but shall follow such advice and recommendations of the Directors as they might issue from time to time.

5.3.2The Local Governing Body shall be responsible for the review from time to time of the Academy’s admissions policy in the light of consultation led by the Directors. Any request to change the admissions should be reported to the Directors in sufficient time to allow such change to take place in accordance with legislation. No change will be made to the admissions criteria without the written consent of the Directors.

5.3.3Any decision to expand the Academy shall be that of the Directors but shall have regard to the views of the Local Governing Body.

5.4Finance

5.4.1In acknowledgement of the receipt by the Directors of funds in relation to the Academy; provided by the Secretary of State, donated to the Company and generated from the activities of the Company, the Directors delegate to the Local Governing Body the responsibility to manage and expend all monies received on account of the Academy for the purposes of the Academy less 4% of the funds received from the Secretary of State, an amount to be determined each year by the Directors acting reasonably.